Romanowski, William D. Grand Rapids: Brazos Press. 2001. 171
pp. $12.99 USD. ISBN: 1587430096.
[1] William Romanowski uses examples from television, film, and music
to clarify what a Christian media message might look like and what
it could mean to engage the media as a Christian critic. These possibilities
are articulated across ten chapters and two appendices that introduce
readers to a Christian worldview, the scope of popular media, and
the potential benefits of bringing the two together in thoughtful
and constructive critiques of culture. Readers already familiar with
the development of popular culture studies might find chapters four
and five a bit redundant, as this is where Romanowski discusses the
high-low culture split and argues that there is value to be found
in popular cultural messages. Ultimately the book is a worthwhile
endeavor.
[2] The title of chapter one, "Christians Who Drink Beer,"
encapsulates Romanowski's view that it is impossible to give essential
definitions of Christian audiences. He notes that with few exceptions
it is not possible for Christians to live outside the reach of popular
culture and besides, he posits, the vast majority of audiences identifying
themselves as Christian are spending considerably less time interacting
with Christian media than they are with popular culture. Romanowski
urges readers to define themselves as an audience by forming and engaging
in interpretive communities with friends, colleagues, clergy, educators,
and critics who share a common worldview. Arguing from Genesis 1:28
("Be fruitful and increase in number; fill the earth and subdue
it"), Romanowski asserts that actively engaging in cultural creation
and criticism is established by Scripture.
[3] Romanowski holds that popular culture texts - whether in songs,
television, or film - come to have meaning through our working engagement
with them. As a consequence he urges readers to reject hypodermic
needle metaphors that imagine the media as a secularizing or indoctrinating
force. Romanowski similarly rejects criticism that seeks to dichotomize
the world into the profane and the secular. He cleverly parallels
this rhetorical move with polarizing the principles of good and evil
and high and low culture. Romanowski argues that such facile distinctions
not only weaken the Christian position but also miss the function
of criticism to redeem and recuperate the meanings of cultural texts.
In doing this he is establishing that the media need not always be
suitable for children and families in order to be relevant to a Christian
critic. Nor should it be expected to contain the appropriate number
of JPMs ("Jesuses per Minute"), the criterion by which Christian
music is often scrutinized (139). He instead asserts:
We need popular art to ... open our eyes to injustice, express
our emotions, show us the humor in situations, depict the grief,
hardships, and struggles of everyday life, and help us understand
the calm of forgiveness and the meaning of redemption (81).
It is not an acceptable position to dismiss popular culture outright
because it is violent, sexual, or materialistic in content. The conscientious
critic needs a worldview that allows for the way that culture is and
encompasses a view of how the culture could or ought to be if one
adheres to particular faith principles. One's worldview, Romanowski
notes, should be creative and discerning as it is applied to understanding
the popular.
[4] In the conclusion, Romanowski offers a three-level method for
reading a popular text on the basis of subject, content, and evaluation.
Working within this method, he offers an ample matrix of questions
in Appendix One that readers can use to guide their readings. Questions
are grouped under headings - including sexuality, violence, redemption,
aesthetic, and perception - to allow readers to select subject areas
appropriate to their text. The matrix is thorough, but one weakness
of the book is that Romanowski does not spend more time elaborating
this method and matrix, making it a more central focus in the book.
Placing the model and matrix at the end positions the work of criticism
as an afterthought, especially for readers who may not venture past
the conclusion. This seems to conflict with Romanowski's assertion
that actively working through culture should be the readers' goal.
Appendix one also directs readers to the book's website (www.brazospress.comeyeswideopen/),
which provides chapter outlines, resources, and activities for teachers
and students, and helps the general reader who may be seeking ways
to introduce this material to friends and family.
[5] Appendix Two offers an example of the type of Christian criticism
that Romanowski advocates, using the film Titanic. Despite
being a thoughtful critique that illustrates many of Romanowski's
points, this appendix is problematic for two reasons. First, by the
time of publication, Titanic was already four years old. Second,
it isn't entirely clear why Romanowski chooses Titanic as his
model, since, throughout the book, he teases readers with thumbnail
critiques of The End of the Affair and American Beauty
that seem to be much richer interpretive turf. They connect with the
themes of sexuality, infidelity, drug use, violence, family, and faith,
themes from which Romanowski urges critics not to shy away. It would
have been more relevant to have the second appendix expand upon one
of these two other films, since they receive brief but intriguing
treatments in the body of the book.
[6] This book has several potential audiences. The first is an audience
of Christians who question either the sanctity or the purpose of looking
for the profane within the popular. The second is the educated reader
with interests in popular media and a working understanding of Christianity.
Ultimately this book could be of greatest interest to teachers of
undergraduate courses in media and rhetorical criticisms, in particular
because Romanowski urges them to take up his challenge and become
active cultural consumers, interpreters, and critics.
Gordon Alley-Young, Department of Speech Communication, Southern
Illinois University, Carbondale, Illinois
(GordYng@aol.com)
